


Holiday Miracles

by aryelee



Series: Haley-Copter [2]
Category: The Outsiders (1983), The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: also, look at that a holiday fic, no babies were killed in this fic, wow im super later for this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-14 17:35:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5752141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aryelee/pseuds/aryelee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas was an odd time. Though they usually (always) ended up at the Curtis household, it was only the gang and the Curtis family. Small gifts were exchanged, but beyond that nothing changed. Sometimes they got into fights with Socs, sometimes they stole things from gas stations and small corner stores. </p><p>But never had they had to spend Christmas with a nine year old who brought two pies and death glare.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Holiday Miracles

Christmas was an odd time. Though they usually (always) ended up at the Curtis household, it was only the gang and the Curtis family. Small gifts were exchanged, but beyond that nothing changed. Sometimes they got into fights with Socs, sometimes they stole things from gas stations and small corner stores.

But never had they had to spend Christmas with a nine year old who brought two pies and death glare.

 

* * *

Two days before Christmas, Two-bit was telling the gang about what he had gotten his little sister.

“I wanted to get her something better,” he said, frowning, “But I couldn’t think of anything so I just went with this. She likes candy so it was easy to steal some but…” he trailed off, tossing a large bag of candy from hand to hand. 

Ponyboy stared at it for a moment, eyes following the movement of the bag. “You can’t get those at stores,” he observed, “They don’t sell candy bags that big or bags with that many different candies in it.”

Two-bit grinned sheepishly. “Hey, I couldn’t get Haley anything better, so I got a lot of her favorites and put them all in one bag.”

He tossed the bag up and frowned again. “I just don’t know if it’ll be enough,” he admitted.

“Two-bit,” Darry cut in, “She’s nine. She’ll love it. Stop worrying so much.”Two-bit sighed turned the bag of candy over in his hands. The other members of the gang watched bemused, having never seen Two-bit get so worried about something as frivolous as a present. It was both amusing and a little odd to see him play the role of an older brother, rather than a delinquent who stole various things to pass the time. 

The front door slammed open.

“Two-bit!” Haley’s voice carried through the house.

Two-bit froze, then panicked, frantically moving around, making each member of the gang duck their heads lest they be hit with a large bag of candy. 

Footsteps approached them, and, with no other idea, Two-bit pulled Steve forward by the collar of his shirt then shoved the bag of candy down it. They barely managed to pull away from each other when Haley walked in.

She froze and took in everyone’s wide eyed expressions and the lump at Steve’s stomach. For a moment she was silent. Then-

“Why is your stomach so big?”

Steve looked around the room desperately searching for an answer; no one met his eyes and bit their lips.

“I’m pregnant,” he tried.

Ponyboy snickered and bit down on his hand to hold back his laughter. Darry buried his head in his hands, wondering what he did to deserve this. Steve grabbed a pillow off the couch and bit it, trying to muffle his snickers.

Haley frowned, understandably confused. She didn't know much about these things, but she was sure that men never got pregnant. Still, she doubted he knowledge. She was only nine after all.

"I thought that men couldn't have babies," Haley announced.

"Steve is different!" Two-bit explained in a rush. "He can have babies!"

Steve looked like he was about to protest, but Two-bit's frantic nodding and Haley's doubtful glare had him hesitantly nodding. 

"Yeah, I can have babies. Surprise!"

"Is Sodapop the dad then?" Haley asked innocently.

The entire gang choked. Soda buried his head in the couch pillow, body shaking with laughter and ears red. Two-bit had fallen onto the floor and Ponyboy was desperately trying to get air in between his coughs. 

Darry gave a quiet whisper of, "I did nothing to deserve this hell.”

“I did,” Two-bit whispered back. 

Haley glanced around the room, confused at the gang’s reaction to her words. They were always more put together than this. She couldn’t understand how her question had made it fall apart so quickly. 

She cleared her throat uncertainly. “Is that a yes or a no?”

The was a beat of silence, and then Ponyboy sucked in a gulp of air and yelled, “It’s a yes!” A pillow hit his head a second later. Steve sent him a glare that promised nothing but pain, still threatening despite the blush that had made his entire face a burning red. A sudden coughing fit from the floor drew everyone’s attention away from Steve, and onto Two-bit who was struggling to stand, his face flushed from his choked down laughter. He took a moment to wipe away a few tears before taking a breath and clearing his throat.

“So,” he said, voice oddly high, “What are you doing here Haley-copter? I’m sure it wasn’t to celebrate Steve and Soda’s soon-to-be child.” A second pillow came flying from the couch and smacked the back of Two-bit’s head, causing him to stumble forward a few steps. He turned to glare at Soda, but quickly looked away, biting his lip to hold back another barrage of snickers. 

Haley looked at him oddly, then replied, “Mom had to go in ‘cause someone had to miss their shift. She told me to stay with you until she got back.”

“But today’s supposed to be her day off!”

She shrugged. “I said that too but she still left. I’m just gonna…” Haley trailed off, her gaze sweeping the room one more time, before saying, “I’m gonna go watch some cartoons.” 

“Right!” Two-bit clapped his hands together, “You go do that! We’ll be here talking about… Stuff!”

Haley slowly nodded, then turned on her heel and walked towards the T.V. before plopping down in front of it and turning it on. The moment the sound of the T.V. filled the room, Two-bit was reaching towards Steve again, only to have Steve pull back with a distrustful glare.

“What do you think you’re doing now?” he hissed as he batted away the hands reaching for him.

“I need that candy bag back!” Two-bit whisper-yelled back, managing to evade Steve’s hits and grabbed his shirt. In a single movement, he tugged Steve’s shirt out of his jeans and grabbed the candy bag as it fell to the floor. The loud noise accompanying it being grabbed had the gang freezing, then looking towards Haley who, miraculously, was too engrossed in the cartoon to notice. 

A barely audible sigh of relief left Two-bit as he straightened up. “Thank god she didn’t notice.”

“She noticed my suddenly huge stomach though,” Steve countered. “What are ya gonna say to her if she looks back? That my baby vanished?”

Two-bit visibly deflated. “Oh. I didn’t think of that. What am I gonna do?”

“You could always say that you took it back to the store,” Soda piped in with a grin, “Got a refund and everything.” He was the only one the laugh at his joke. Steve glared.

“You can’t just throw away children like that, Soda!”

“He’s right, ya know,” Two-bit said as he walked to the kitchen to hide the candy bag, “You have to name them first.”

“Two-bit!”

Haley looked away from the T.V. and shushed them. Soda nodded apologetically before grabbed Steve’s arm and tugging him down, trapping him in a headlock as Ponyboy laughed helplessly as he watched. 

Darry sighed despairingly. He wasn’t sure if he could last until Christmas.

 

* * *

 

On Christmas eve, Two-bit walked Haley to the Curtis household, shoulders hunched against the wind that numbed his face. It wasn’t snowing, though he wished it would. At least that kind of cold was enjoyable. But instead, he was stuck with a grey winter with a constant wind that pulled harshly at his jacket and Haley’s scarf, no matter how many times he stopped to fix it since her numbed hands couldn’t. 

He tugged the scarf down and tightened it before tying it into a knot. He hoped it would hold until they got out of the wind. He tugged it once more to be sure, then let go of the scarf and quickly tucked his hands back into his pockets, trying in vain to get them to warm up. 

Two-bit found himself wondering why it couldn’t have been a white winter instead of a grey one, with clouds permanently blocking out the sun and moon and stars, but never raining or snowing. If the sun were out more and he could get the barest sliver of warmth, he wouldn’t have minded, but  _ no _ , it had to be gloomy and windy and cold.When they arrived at the Curtis household, Two-bit was still mentally grumbling about the weather. Haley was tugging her scarf loose and pulling it off her nose and mouth. Neither of them noticed the mistletoe that hung on top of the doorframe. 

“STOP!”

Ponyboy’s yell made both of them freeze right under the mistletoe. His grin immediately put Two-bit on edge. 

“...What?” he asked hesitantly. Ponyboy pointed towards the ceiling, prompting both Two-bit and Haley to look up.

They stiffened as soon as they caught sight of the mistletoe. They looked at each other, then the mistletoe, and then at Ponyboy, who had crossed his arms was tapping his foot impatiently.“Well?”

“We’re  _ siblings _ ,” Two-bit hissed.

Ponyboy shrugged. “I had to deal with it, so do you. Besides, it can be on the cheek or whatever. Still counts.”

Haley tugged his sleeve. Two-bit looked down. She curled her fingers to make a fist, then punched him in the stomach. Two-bit double over, and Haley wasted no time in tackling him and hitting his shoulders and arms. He tried to roll away and bring his arms up to defend himself, but he hands were still too numb for him to do much. 

“Haley!” Two-bit cried out in shock, “What are you doing? This is not how mistletoe works!”

She stopped her attacks, then said, “ _ Mistlefoe. _ ”

Two-bit paused, then burst out laughing. The force of his laughter had his entire body shaking and made Haley fall to the floor besides him when he rolled over to clutch his stomach. Once he had calmed down a bit, he pushed himself up onto his knees and wiped away tears of mirth.

“ _ Mistlefoe _ ,” he repeated. “That’s the greatest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Sodapop, who had ran out into the hallway with Darry once he heard the sounds of a body hitting the floor, quickly went over to help Two-bit to his feet. 

“Can we make it a thing?” he asked Soda as he stood. “A tradition for us. Instead of kissing under the mistletoe, it’s fighting under the mistlefoe.”

Soda bit back a chuckle. “Sure,” he said, “It’ll be a tradition of ours from now on.”

They shared a grin before turning their attention to Haley, who had stood up and brushed herself off. Two-bit frowned when he saw how the wind had messed up her bangs, and waved his hand to tell her to come closer. Used to the routine, Haley complied and let Two-bit straighten out her bangs and brush them out of her eyes. 

“Good?” she asked once he had stopped. At his nod, she shook her head to make her bangs fall into place (meaning in her eyes which bothered Two-bit to no end) and made her way to Ponyboy, who looked surprised to see the nine year old chose to spend time with him.

“Hi?” he tried, looking awkward.

“I wanna watch Christmas movies,” Haley declared, looking up at Ponyboy. 

“There are probably some playing right now. Wanna see if there are any you wanna watch?”

He looked visibly relieved at her nod, and led her to the T.V. before flipping through the channels in search of a movie to watch. They managed to agree on “Charlie Brown Christmas” and settled down to watch it as Two-bit watched them with a smile.

Soda tugged on Two-bit’s jacket, getting his attention. “You know, I’ve never seen you act like such a big brother,” he said.

“But I  _ am _ a big brother,” Two-bit replied, frowning in confusion.

“Yeah well,” Soda shrugged, “You never really acted like one. So I was kinda surprised.”

“By what?”

“You fixing Haley’s bangs. That’s a very big brother thing to do. I wasn’t expecting you to do that.”

Two-bit blinked, processing Soda’s words. “Why are you so surprised? It’s not a big deal. Do you want me to fix your bangs or something?”

“What? No. That’s not why I brought it up.”

Two-bit grinned, and stepped closer to Soda. “Are you sure? You just have to ask ya know,” he teased, then wrapped an arm around Soda’s neck to pull him into a headlock. Soda struggled, trying to escape Two-bit’s grip and his hand that was ruffling his hair. 

“No!” he wailed dramatically, “Not the hair!”

Two-bit released Soda after a minute, laughing at the messy state his hair was in. He left Soda, who was trying to fix his hair, and walked to Haley and Ponyboy, falling onto the floor besides them to watch the movie. Soda pouted, but followed after a minute, his hair still a mess. 

Ponyboy snickered once he caught sight of his brother. Darry gave an amused snort that he quickly turned into a cough, avoiding Soda’s accusing glare.

“Not a word,” he growled when Ponyboy opened his mouth. Though he did as told, he still had a teasing grin that annoyed Soda to no end. “Just watch the movie,” he ordered grumpily, lightly kicking Two-bit’s leg.

The peace lasted only ten minutes before it was broken by Steve walking into the house, loudly announcing his arrival. Two-bit bolted up immediately and tackled Steve as he walked past the mistletoe.

The surprised shout and loud bang that follow caused the rest of the group to run out and see Two-bit wrestling with Steve, all while saying, “ _ Mistlefoe, _ ” and cackling manically. 

Haley grinned and prepared to run out and join Two-bit in fighting Steve, but Ponyboy was quick to react and picked her up before she could take more than a few steps. 

“Woah, woah, woah,” he said, wincing as he took a few of Haley’s kicks, “You already filled your fight quota for the day. You’re not gonna fight Steve.”

Haley huffed indignantly, but stopped kicking and struggling, and instead crossed her arms and let Ponyboy hold her up. She decided that the next time he walked by the mistletoe, she was going to fight him.  

By that time, Steve had managed to push Two-bit off of him. He stood and brushed himself off, grumbling as he did, ignoring Two-bit’s laughter in favor of turning to face the rest of the gang. He was silent for a moment, then a grin broke out on his face. 

“Hey, Soda, I dunno if you’ve noticed, but-”

“ _ Don’t _ ,” Soda hissed, a hand darting up to try to fix his hair once more. “Or I’m not letting you have any cake tomorrow.”

“Which we still have to make,” Darry reminded, already heading for the kitchen. “And if you make me do it all by myself, none of you are having any.”

Two-bit let out a scandalized gasp. “Darry!” he cried, “I thought you were the only good person in this family!”

“Are you going to help me then?”

“Haley let’s go make cake!” Two-bit called out over his shoulder as he ran past Darry. 

Haley immediately brightened, pout disappearing. She hit Ponyboy’s arms repeatedly, saying, “Put me down! I have to go make cake!”

He tried to put her down gently, he really did, but Haley’s sudden movements and constant hitting made him lose his grip for a moment, causing her to drop to the floor roughly.

“I said ‘put me down’, not ‘drop me like a bag o’ bricks!”

Ponyboy was immediately filled with panic. “I’m sorry! Are you okay?” He helped Haley back to her feet while looking for injuries. She waved him away. 

“I’m fine, Two-bit’s dropped me from higher places.”

“Oh.”

She nodded, and ran to the kitchen. Her hand darted out and caught the doorframe at the last second, causing her to stop and spin back around the face Ponyboy, Steve, and Soda. For a moment, she stared, then frowned.

“Steve, what happened to your baby?” 

Steve stiffened, trying to think up an excuse. Soda stared at Steve with wide eyes and a grin threatening to break out. Ponyboy bit his knuckle, hoping that he wouldn’t be left choking on air like the day before.

Haley watched him for a moment before tilting her head to the side. “Did Two-bit kill it when he tackled you?”

Steve latched onto the excuse. “Yeah! He killed my child.”

Soda threw an arm around Steve’s shoulders. “ _ Our _ child,” he corrected. “You should fight him for that. You could have had a nephew.”

Haley turned around and yelled, “ _ Two-bit stop killing babies! _ ”

Ponyboy sank to his knees, shoulders shaking as he struggled to hold back his laughter. There was a choking noise followed by a loud crash from the kitchen. 

“ _ Two-bit! _ ” Darry yelled. 

“ _ I don’t kill babies! _ ” Two-bit yelled back. 

“ _ No but you’re gonna kill the cake! _ ”

“ _ I didn’t mean to Darry please get the butter away from me! _ ”

Haley ran into the kitchen, disappearing from the other three’s sight. “I’ll hold him down!” A few seconds later, Two-bit let out a strangled sound, followed by Darry’s laughter.

Ponyboy stood. “I gotta see this,” he muttered as he hurried to the kitchen, followed closely by Soda and Steve.

An overturned bowl lay on the floor, surrounded by flour. There were multiple footprints going through it; two large ones and a set of small ones that vanished near the middle. Then, there was Haley hanging onto Two-bit with her arms around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist. Darry was advancing on them with a ruined stick of butter and a evil glint in his eye.

Two-bit, who already had large seams of butter on his face, struggled to back away without losing his balance or throwing off Haley. He didn’t get far, and his hands, which were batting out and trying to hit Darry, did nothing to help defend against the butter stick that was shoved onto his nose. 

Two-bit reeled back, wiping his nose and trying to get the butter off. Darry grinned and handed the butter stick to Haley, who jammed it onto his forehead. 

“ _ This is not how you make cake _ ,” Soda said, staring at the scene in shock as both Steve and Ponyboy clung to his arms to try to keep from sinking down onto the floor as they laughed. 

“Revenge!” Steve cried, running towards them, only to slip on the flour and crash into them instead, sending the four into the counter. 

Two-bit let out a pitiful groan. “You win, you win,” he said, “Please stop. We still have to make the cake.”

They looked up at the sound of someone clearing their throat. Soda glared at them with his arms crossed, standing in front of the mess of flour on the floor. 

“No one,” he hissed, “Is making anything until this kitchen in clean.”

Darry was the first to move, apologizing and leaving to grab a broom. Haley jumped off of Two-bit and picked up the bowl before setting it on the counter. Two-bit sighed and took up the duty of washing the bowl so they could use it. Steve half-heartedly joined him, holding a dish towel to dry the bowl. 

Soda nodded in satisfaction and stepped back to let Darry and Ponyboy clean up the flour. It took a few more minutes before Soda deemed the kitchen clean enough to cook cake in, much to the relief of the others who quickly put away the cleaning supplies. 

They spent the next few minutes getting all the ingredients together and piling them onto the counter. The only thing they had left to get were the decorations (namely, frosting). Two-bit moved to grab it off the top shelf of one of the cabinets, but caught sight of Haley standing off to the side fiddling with the hem of her sweater and doing her best to stay out of the gang’s way. 

He stopped, then sighed and motioned her over. Haley brightened at the thought of being able to help and rushed over. 

“Grab the frosting from the top shelf for me, okay Haley?” 

“Okay!” she grinned and stood on her tiptoes, one hand resting against the top of the counter to keep her from losing her balance. She frowned when she saw that she was nowhere near the frosting, and stretched further. Two-bit quickly picked her up and help her up to the shelf. 

Proudly, she grabbed the frosting and held it up, showing it to Two-bit. “I got it!” she yelled triumphantly. 

After setting her back down gently, Two-bit pat the top of her head. “Good job, Haley-copter. Go put it with the other ingredients.”

Two-bit watched her run over and place the frosting with the other ingredients, beaming when Soda smiled his thanks. He smiled softly before being called over by Soda, who was measuring all the ingredients. 

“Go pre-heat the oven to 350,” he ordered without taking his eyes off the measuring cup.

“Is that all I have to do?” Two-bit couldn’t help but ask.

Soda stopped pouring the flour into the measuring cup and dumped it into the bowl. “After what happened last time, that’s all I’m trusting you with.” As Two-bit turned to do as said, Soda muttered, “Please don’t burn the house down.”

Two-bit spun around. “Rude! Can’t you trust me to push a few buttons?”

Soda didn’t say anything. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and stared at Two-bit until he looked away with a scowl. Soda grinned and turned back to measuring as he ordered Steve to melt the butter and telling Darry to start melting the chocolate to make the frosting for the cake. 

It took a bit for everything to be finished, but the four managed to finish quickly while Two-bit entertained Haley since neither of them had anything they had to do. 

To Sodapop’s relief, the cake came out perfectly and the kitchen remained relatively clean. He let out a relieved sigh and relaxed, shoulders dropping from the sudden release of tension. He picked up the frosting and held it out to Haley, who hesitated before taking it, looking to Two-bit to make sure it was alright. She brightened at his nod and grabbed the icing with both hands, beaming in a way that made a smile appear on everyone’s faces. 

Haley wasn’t quite tall enough to be able to reach the top of the cake and decorate it, but Two-bit was kind enough to let her struggle for only a few seconds before he picked her up and held her in reach of the cake. 

The end result was this: “Merry Christmas!” written in Haley’s shaky handwriting, and snowflakes taking up all the remaining space, drawn on by the rest of the gang (Steve’s turned out to be the best, with Darry being a close second, and Two-bit’s snowflakes were more colored blobs than anything else, but no one was surprised by that).

 

* * *

 

Christmas day arrived in a flurry of harsh winds and scarves and jackets being pulled tightly around frozen bodies. Two-bit and Haley left for the Curtis household later than they usually did in hopes of the sun coming out and warming them up, but it remained hidden behind thick grey clouds that promised storms. 

Two-bit spent the walk grumbling about the unfairness of weather. Haley spent it shivering and trying to keep up with her brothers fast pace. 

By the time they made it to the Curtis household, both were frozen and had long since lost feeling in their hands. Darry was quick to pull them inside when he caught sight of them walking up to the front door. He pushed them towards the kitchen with a brief, “Morning,” before going off to wake up Ponyboy who had, for whatever reason, decided to stay up until 1 in the morning the night before. 

Two-bit mumbled a “Good mor,” in response, and gently pushed Haley to the kitchen in hopes of getting something warm to drink. The soft murmur of conversation in the kitchen reached them as they walked towards it, and it made Two-bit grin and pick up his pace. Christmas mornings, no matter the weather, always left him feeling cheerful, especially when he was around the gang. 

Sodapop had apparently heard them approach, as he had two mugs of hot chocolate being made as they walked into the kitchen. The previous conversation had stopped in favor of greeting the two and wishing them a merry Christmas. 

Two-bit was quick to join in Steve’s discussion on whether he should try to get a job at a garage and fix up cars or not, while Haley went over to Steve where he was stirring the mugs of hot chocolate and asked for marshmallows.  

It was peaceful. Nice. It made a warm feeling of contentment settle in the hearts of everyone in the kitchen. 

The peaceful atmosphere wasn’t disturbed by the arrival of Ponyboy, who stumbled in with heavy footsteps and bleary eyes, and Darry, who watched Ponyboy struggle with consciousness in amusement. He made his way to the table and collapsed into a seat, rubbing his eyes with ink stained hands. 

“Well, aren’t you a pretty sight to see so early in the morning,” Two-bit teased, ignoring Ponyboy’s annoyed mumble that was most likely unintelligible curses. “Is that any way to act on Christmas morning?” he pouted as Ponyboy glared at him and struggled to keep his eyes open.

“Fuck off,” he muttered.

Two-bit glared, playfulness suddenly disappearing. “There’s a nine year old here. Watch your fucking language,” he hissed.

Ponyboy blinked, rubbed his eyes again, and glanced over to Haley. “I didn’t even see her,” he admitted. “Sorry.”

“Just - watch what you say.”

“So!” Soda clapped his hands together after handing Haley her hot chocolate, “Since we’re all here, we can eat!” 

The tension was broken, and the atmosphere immediately brightened with Sodapop’s infectious cheer. Two-bit relaxed and walked over to Haley, picking up his hot chocolate and nudging her to the table. 

Soda brought out the cake and placed it gently on the table, grabbing hold of the knife Darry handed him. He quickly cut it into eight equal pieces, years of cutting cakes showing themselves in the skill. Steve handed out plates and placed a bundle of forks on the table. They bickered over who got what piece, but it was settled quickly with Soda’s glare and Haley’s growling stomach. 

The next few minutes were spent in silence that was only broken to compliment the cake or tease each other about one thing or another. It was only broken when Darry cleared his throat as Steve cleared the table and put everything in the sink. He stood and walked out of the kitchen, only to return a minute later with a neatly wrapped present in his hands. 

He handed it to Ponyboy, who blinked in surprise but accepted it without hesitation. He tore through the wrapping paper carefully, trying not to destroy it completely. Once he had gotten it off, Ponyboy gasped, then smiled up at Darry in thanks, clutching the leather bound journal and running his fingers along the binding. 

The rest of the gang took that as the cue to start handing out their own gifts. 

Soda got new cooking utensils from Darry (he’d been complaining about how old the ones they had were getting for ages), an apron with abs on it from Steve (“Gotta keep your figure somehow, right?”), a large scarf from Two-bit (he always complained about the cold and how he wished he had something other than his jacket), and a new lighter with a skull etched onto it from Ponyboy (his old one stopped working and he never got a new one).

The gang all pitched in and got Darry three new books, as well as a novel length story from Ponyboy (he would later deny how touched he was that Ponyboy wrote something for him. The rest of the gang never let him forget that he teared up when he got the gift). 

Steve received a switchblade comb from Ponyboy (which he loved since he was forever styling his hair and loved knives), dog tags with his name engraved on them from Soda (he appreciated how the dog tags fit in with what he called his “aesthetic”), a large toolbox from Darry (he never stopped complaining about how he had no space to put his new tools), and a red bandana from Two-bit (he spent hot summer days working on cars, and needless to say, he always ended up drenched in sweat).

Ponyboy got new pens from Soda (his old ones were almost out of ink, and even those didn’t work as smoothly as the new ones), a book on creative writing from Steve (he leafed through it appreciatively, and promised to read the whole thing in two days so his stories would be better), and a books of puns from Two-bit (he grinned and planned to write Two-bit something that was 90% puns).

Two-bit was given a flask from Darry (though he knew Darry didn’t like his drinking habits, he couldn’t bring himself to stop. The flask was nice, at least), a butterfly knife from Soda (he always had to keep his hands busy, so this was both the perfect gift and worst gift to be given), a new pair of boots from both Steve and Ponyboy (he was always moving, always walking around, and it had long since worn the soles of his shoes down, which he complained about endlessly on rainy days).

Haley had gotten candy from everyone, and hugged Two-bit when he tossed the bag of candy to her (she never got a lot of candy, which was torture on her sweet tooth, so this was the greatest thing anyone could have gotten her).

She promised that everyone’s gift would arrive later, and after a few minutes running away from the others who tried to tickle the answer out of her, to no extent as she refused to tell them, they settled down to watch Christmas movies. It was only around noon that they all got up from where they had sprawled around the living room, roused by the ringing of the doorbell.

“Don’t get up! I’ll get it!” Haley declared as she raced towards the front door, leaving the rest of the gang to glance at each other in confusion. She walked back in a few minutes later with two pies in her arms and a smile on her face. 

Steve and Soda quickly brought out plates and forks and cut out slices. 

“Merry Christmas!” Haley beamed, then dug in.

**Author's Note:**

> this ended up being 17 pages when i expected it to be 5
> 
> im dead
> 
> (also hella late with this christmas fic but its fine)


End file.
